Film day: Pasqualino Settebellezze

Sundays in Vancouver fall under two opposite categories: phenomenal and depressing. Obviously, the weather is the factor that determines which category applies. Today is one of the depressing ones, with deep grey skies and non-stop rain. The bike will have to stay inside; the frisbee locked in a closet. 

However, these grey Sundays also provide an ideal opportunity to unleash my movie buff persona. Therefore, I hereby establish Sundays as the official film recommendation day in this blog. 

Today's film is Lina Wertmuller's Pasqualino Settebellezze (or Seven Beauties): 

And if you feel like leaving your house this evening, Pacific Cinematheque is celebrating the 50th anniversary of Fellini's La Dolce Vita. Don't miss this great opportunity to see a 35mm copy of the film projected in a movie theatre! Details here. Also, Wong Kar-Wai's Ashes of Time Redux is playing at 5pm at Pacific Cinematheque).

Spike & Mike's Animation Festival

For all of you fans of animation, this week the Rio Theatre is hosting Spike & Mike's Sick & Twisted Festival of Animation. Commonly known as the Kings of Tasteless Toons, Spike & Mike are famous for being the world's greatest promoters of adult animation art. Some of the past contributors to the festival include Tim Burton, Eric Fogel (creator of Celebrity Deathmatch) and Kenn Navarro (Happy Tree Friends). Also, the now super famous Beavis and Butthead cartoon was "discovered" at Spike & Mike's festival!

I went to the festival last Saturday and I must confess that it was quite a different experience to be in a theatre surrounded by a crowd of adult animation fans. For instance, there were constant shouts and loud comments. The crowd was unforgiving to the animations that they didn't like, and like strict judges, they would loudly dismiss or laugh at any faux pas in the stories. But regardless of what each animation was about, the loud clapping and whistling between clips made it clear that this crowd was alive and thirsty for high quality animation! The festival ends this weekend, so don't miss it!

These were my favorite animations:


"Animal Instincts" by Cameron Edser (clay animation rules!)


"Yellow Sticky Notes" by Jeff Chiba Stearns (from the Vancouver Film School!)



"2 minute itch" by Eric Favala (I laughed so hard my stomach hurt)



The famous "Lapsus" Juan Pablo Zaramella


"Frog" by Christopher Conforti (got a full minute of applause)


"2 in the AM PM" by J G Quintel (a true acid trip!)


"Dr. Tran's Quiet Log Time" by Breehn Burns & Jason Johnson (Spike & Mike called it "one of the coolest films in years!")


This one is more like a music video, but still hilarious:



And last but not least, this was Spike's favorite animation:

The incredible "Ghost of Stephen Foster" by Raymond S. Persi (so retro!)

Slumdog Millioncrap

Tonight will probably serve as confirmation that the Oscars are not (and never have been) a measure of good cinema. According to most predictions, Slumdog Millionaire will win best picture and many of its other 10 nominations. I simply don't understand. To me, Slumdog Millionaire was not worth the 8 dollars I paid to see it. Yes, it's about the life of a slumdog that becomes a millionaire. Wow, never heard of anything like it. And yes, the plot moves through a series of constant flashbacks of the kid's life. Wow, how original. Then there's a good brother and a bad brother. Wow, such intrigue. And then, believe it or not, they both fight for a girl and in the end, the good brother gets the girl! Unbelievable.

Now, if we forget this painful and cliché ridden plot for a second, what do we have left? Spectacular actors? Hell no! (unless you're into soap opera style fakeness) A groundbreaking message? Pleeease. Good laughs? Yeah, maybe that scene when the kid jumps into a pile of feces was fun...and maybe one or two of the scenes had interesting lighting. But is the Academy really going to give this mediocre film the Oscar for Best Picture?? If the Oscars were really about recognizing good cinema, Milk would be the top choice of the night.

Needless to say, I agree completely with the more serious criticism by Chei Amlani.

--------------------------- update Feb 23 -------------------------------

I really don't understand how Slumdog won best film yesterday. I guess Hollywood was hit hard by the "Exotic" factor and the Academy was hypnotized by the saturated colors, like kids in a candy shop. 

Anyway, my friends Miriam and Juan Pablo shared a couple of excellent reviews, one by Anthony Lane, the other by David Denby.

Y luego está este graaan post de Uno y Uno Son Demasiados.

Get off the couch!

It takes a unique event to inspire most people to sacrifice their perfect evening on a soft couch, watching a TV comedy on prime time while indulging on some comfort food. Every city, however cosmopolitan, experiences some idle weeks in the year, the kind where nothing poses a serious threat to the couch plan. However, this is NOT the time to stay at home in Vancouver!

Or paraphrasing some Zoolander male model, "Vancouver, it's so hot right now".

Here are my top 5 reasons to leave the couch:

1. (Jan. 14-Feb. 1st) Vancouverites can experience the best culinary marvels of the city by going to Dine-Out Vanouver 2009. For those of you haven't heard, the best restaurants in the city are offering three course meal menus for cheap, fixed prices. Restaurants are divided into three price categories, $18, $28, and $38, and their Dine-Out menus are all available online.

(My favorites: if you feel like going to a cozy bistro and eating a stout and cheddar foundue, a ratatouille provençale, and a chocolate banana bread pudding for only $18, visit Burgoo! If Asian flavors excite your pallate, try the salt spring island mussels, a Vietnamense nuoc cham sablefish or pulled duck confit crepes, and a coconut sticky rice for just $28. Or if you have a fancy date and would like to impress him/her with an albacore tuna tataki, a Kurobota pork roasted for 24 hours, and a key lime cheesecake by Frank Pabst (best chef 2008), visit Blue Water Café for a modest $38. Dine-Out Vancouver is certainly the best excuse to leave your comfort food in the fridge and gain some good winter pounds!)

2. Concerts, concerts, concerts at the Biltmore Cabaret! Metronomy plays on Saturday 24, Matt & Kim play on Wednesday 28, and The Album Leaf play on Saturday 31.

3. (Jan. 16-Feb. 16) For all you film buffs, Pacific Cinematheque is playing a retrospective of films by Japanese director Nagisa Oshima. The retrospective is called In the Realm of Oshima, and it was called "the international film retrospective of the year" by Liam Lacey of the Globe and Mail. I'm dying to watch Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence, starring David Bowie.

4. (Jan. 20-Feb. 8) Thespians be aware! The Push Festival is here! It's probably the most important performing arts festival of the year, and a perfect excuse to miss an episode of Heroes. Some highlights are the amazing show Billy Twinkle by the world's most famous puppet theatre artist Ronnie Burkett, and the Japanese show Five Days in March by the renowned Chelftisch Theatre Company.

5. Gallery openings! Yesterday, Catriona Jeffries Gallery opened a show by Gareth Moore (Jan. 15-Feb. 14). Then, the Cineworks Independent Filmmakers Society opened the screeing of The Soft Revolution at the Interurban Gallery (located at 1 East Hastings). Both are a must see! I went to the The Soft Revolution yesterday and it's an impressive project that breaches the boundaries of linear narrative in cinema by allowing the viewers to interact with the film. There are three screens and two control panels where users can press buttons to select which character comes into play, giving the viewer a feeling of control over the story.

6. (Feb. 1-Mar. 21) If you don't mind going all the way to Surrey, the Surrey Art Gallery is opening Uneasy Beauty, an amazing Edward Burtynsky show! You should NOT miss this exhibit! Apart from the awe inspiring beauty of his work, Burtynsky has become such an important voice for sustainability that in 2005 he earned the TED Prize (click to see his profile and his acceptance speech). This led to the release of his documentary Manufactured Landscapes, which was shown at the Sundance and Toronto film festivals. He is also involved in Worldchanging, the foremost online sustainability community. Did I convince you?

Enjoy.

Hitchcock's hiccups

I don't have much time to write this week, but my friend Dana shared this and I couldn't resist posting it.



(all together now, "Thaaaank you Danaaaa")

Religulous, or the need to doubt

Beware. This post will offend you if you place faith above reason in your scale of values.

I watched the film Religulous this past weekend and found it phenomenal. Bill Maher's take on organized religion mixes elements of "laugh your face off" comedy with bits of intelligent skepticism a la Richard Dawkins. As I expected, the film was less about the impact of religious beliefs and more about the ignorant society that keeps them alive. It was hilarious, inspiring, and at times offensive in all the right ways.

Bill Maher is unforgiving in his documentary, where he puts Scientologists and Jews, Cantheists and Catholics on the same plane. And that's precisely what makes the mockumentary worthwile: the realization that all of these organized religions can be as absurd as the other. The fact that the Bible is the #1 all time bestseller doesn't make religions based on it less illogical! For Bill Maher, Scientologists are as crazy for believing in the alien spaceship as Catholics for believing in a virgin woman giving birth to the human version of a God.



Surprisingly, the most intelligent parts of the film were provided by the Vatican's chief astronomer and a retired Vatican priest. These men, although strictly religious, made it clear that it is not the educated religious elites that take religious scriptures as dogma ad absurdum, but rather opportunistic religious leaders that use the fear inciting power of religion to spread harmful lies. (i.e. the for profit religious corporations like the Evangelists)

But the message is by no means that of intolerance towards religious people. Maher is not against religion per se. Instead, he is against the negative effects that religious thought has on the human thought process...because the mechanism of "faith" goes against the process of questioning, of unrestrained curiosity. He criticizes these organizations because they discourage scientific doubt in favor of imposed dogma. And a mind that doesn't doubt, might as well be dead.

Needless to say, I left the theatre with a big smile on my face.

VIFF plans

I enjoy going to films by myself, especially when the place is packed because you can always get a great seat (couples or groups tend to leave an empty seat between them and the adjoining group). However, it's exponentially better when I can share the experience with someone and discuss the film. (I especially like it when I bump into someone I know in the theatre and it becomes an involuntary date)

So, with the double purpose of putting an end to phone calls asking me what I want to watch, and hopefully recruiting some of you to come with me to watch a film, here are my choices for the remainder of the VIFF:

• When It Was Blue----Oct. 3---9.30pm
• Chomsky & Co.-------Oct. 5---9.30pm
• Gomorrah-------------Oct. 7---9.30pm
• Tokyo!-----------------Oct. 8---2pm
• Addicted to Plastic---Oct. 9---9.30pm
• The Grocer's Son-----Oct. 10---10.30am
  
• Blue Gold: World Water Wars---Oct. 10---1pm
• The Class--------------Oct. 10---10pm

(este post se podría titular "Cruzada contra mis validas")

Waltz with Bashir

I'm speechless. My mind is racing in all directions, yet I can't put the thoughts together. Images of war, of human suffering. A story told in first person from a man that cannot remember it. Because he doesn't want to. He can't. He can't accept that he could have been part of a massacre, even if he played a minor role. His mind wanders as he searches for answers...just like mine.

How to explain the tragedy of Beirut? The hate, the horror. How can one get used to blood?

Bashir the idol, Bashir the ideal. Soldiers ordered to kill a faceless enemy. Really? Faces of children, of old men...lying in the rubble, swarming with flies. Israeli tanks remain vigilant, only the yellow flares appear to be alive at night. Spectators become quiet participants. Of genocide.


(Waltz with Bashir plays again this Sunday at 1pm at the VIFF)

My Brazil

Although the possessive adjective in the title might suggest that I acquired a portion of that country or that I somehow received the power to appropriate national abstractions, this post is simply a "cultural gazette" on a series of Brazilian experiences that I had.

First, I went to the Vancouver Latin American Film Festival (which, I'm proud to say, was organized by a young Mexican) and watched the film Proibido Proibir, which was truly excellent and inspiring. I won't spoil your experience of watching it by discussing the plot here, but the views of Brazilian society provided by the film functioned as a great complement to the notion I had of the favelas and social divisions in that country. Also, the story managed to jerk a tear or two from my face...which is always very much appreciated by your blogger.

Second, I went to the CSS (Cansei De Ser Sexy) concert at the Commodore Ballroom and enjoyed it even more than the first time I saw them at Coachella 2007. The singer was incredibly energetic and the music had me dancing all night long. This automatically led me to rediscover their amazing CSS Suxx album.

Third, I was recently introduced the work of the great Brazilian photojournalist Sebastiao Salgado. It only took an hour of looking at his book "Workers" to fully reinvigorate my belief that photojournalism not only has the power to effectively denounce injustices, but that photojournalists have a responsibility to find and expose those places where abuse and injustice are hidden from everyday discussion.

Lastly, I still haven't forgotten the Vik Muniz expo I saw this summer. In a way, it changed the way I think of perception and has even affected the way I take photographs.

(And yes...there is a Brazilian girl.)